Picking up the pieces

It has been a long time since I posted on my blog, and I must confess I had almost forgotten that I had a blog.
The past few months have been very hard as we have lost 3 beloved family members.  We have had some very dark times when we have felt we couldn't go on, but time is a healer and today I felt strong enough to write about the pain of our loss and the path we have been on.

In May we lost my Step Dad who passed away after a long battle with ill health, he was 84.

Then my beautiful Step Daughter, 23,  took her own life in July.  This loss has been the hardest to bear.  She had been struggling with mental health problems for a few years and had been in our care on and off over this time.  We thought she was doing well and that she was ready to start her University studies again, but she was hiding her pain.  She was an intelligent, creative young woman who gave so much of herself to helping others but she couldn't see a future where she could ever be well .

And then last week my sweet Mother In Law passed away, she was almost 90. She so wanted to be 90 and we knew it wouldn't happen, so we had an early birthday party for her only 2 weeks ago.  She had her favourite Thai curry, cake and a few sips of bubbly.  We cheated a bit , but I think that was OK, she was delighted and we feel it gave her permission to let go and take the next step on her journey.

On Monday I waved goodbye to my daughter, 19, as she left on an overseas working holiday for 12 months or so. After all that we have been through it was extra hard for us to say goodbye, but with the marvels of modern technology we have already been in contact a number of times.

And so our nest is emptier and through all this sadness and loss, my darling hubby and I have started to look forward to some together time, the first since our "Brady Bunch" family started just over 10 years ago.

My thoughts are turning to creative pursuits and I hope to get back into my sewing room soon.  I have an operation to go through on my knee(s) shortly, but that's not going to stop me!  I am going to make a quilt with those rainbow blocks I made last year and there's a thousand other things I want to make.

I am back :)